A great search for the illustrious Indian epic that is at the same time a look into what makes India the country it is.
A chance comment in 1974 fired Peter Brook and Jean-Claude Carri re with the idea of producing a play based on the epic. Together they travelled across India, searching for all possible theatrical forms of the great poem. The result was an epic play 9 hours with two intermissions later made into a film and a TV series, which has become a landmark in theatre. Another result was this delightful book made from the notes that Carri re jotted down during his travels, whose charm is enhanced by his piquant illustrations that run through the pages.
The sacred frenzy of Theyyam in a Kerala village and the intricacies of Kathakali are interwoven with their encounters with the aged Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram, a one-in-three , and the legendary Satyajit Ray in Kolkata. Here they also meet Professor P. Lal, who has been working for twenty years on translating the Mahabharata into English. It is vignettes like these that make their search for the epic into a journey that shows India, through Carri re s words and sketches, in a way it has never been seen before.
About the Author
The Author
Jean-Claude Carri re is a legend in cinema and theatre. He has written the script for award-winning films such as Diary of a Chambermaid, Belle de Jour and The Tin Drum. As a playwright, he worked with Peter Brook for 24 years. Their work includes The Tragedy of Carmen, apart from The Mahabharata.
The Translator
Aruna Vasudev is known in the world of cinema as the director of several film festivals, including Cinefan, the first festival in India to showcase Asian films, and the publisher of Cinemaya, the Asian film quarterly. She has directed and produced several short and documentary films.
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